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The essence, feature and role of low carbon economy

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Abstract

Low carbon economy regards economic system as an integral part of natural world, and its goal is through reducing and saving materials (minus materialization such as energy saving, consumption cut and greenhouse gas emission reduction) to realize harmonious development between man and nature to create a higher standard of living, better quality of life and more opportunity for development for people. Therefore, low carbon economy is a new economic development pattern, philosophy and way of subverting traditional economy and is an important impetus for economic and social development. How to develop low carbon economy is an economic and technical issue as well as a political issue. In the context of globalization, it is a great economic game in the world, and only the country taking an advantage in this game will be able to win a greater space and a better opportunity for development. Clearly, low carbon economy represents the future direction and trend of economic development, and it is the basis and condition of realizing sustainable development.

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Acknowledgments

This research was funded by research Grant (10XJY004) from the National Social Science Foundation of China. The author appreciates generous support from the funds. The constructive comments of two anonymous reviewers are thankfully acknowledged.

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Correspondence to Xiangsheng Dou.

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Dou, X. The essence, feature and role of low carbon economy. Environ Dev Sustain 17, 123–136 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-014-9542-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-014-9542-9

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